Communication traffic volume over the Internet continues to grow rapidly. For example, growth in demand can be attributed in part to users' increasing demand for rich content over the Internet from video sharing web sites, pod casters and other content distributors and providers. In addition, sites devoted to social networking continue to grow in popularity, thereby contributing to increasing demand in online use. Furthermore, users are accessing the Internet through more and varied types of end-user devices, such as portable handheld computing devices, and the communication and computing options available to users continue to increase. As a result, users are accessing a broader range of Internet resources from ever-increasing points of access.
Network service providers (NSPs), such as Internet service providers (ISPs), wholesale NSPs, and backbone network operators, must adapt their networks in response to increases in communication traffic volume. More specifically, providers should be able to accommodate growth in communication traffic while maintaining the same relative service levels at roughly the same cost or lower cost. Given the relatively high capital costs associated with network implementation, integration and maintenance, and uncertainty in the trend in communication traffic it can be difficult to know what configuration of network components will provide both scalability (ability to grow with increases in traffic demand) and low cost.
It is with respect to these and other problems that embodiments of the present invention have been created.